


All Marshmallow

by SailorChibi



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Age Play, Baby Tony, Bruce Banner & Clint Barton Friendship, Bruce Banner & Tony Stark Friendship, Bruce Banner Feels, Daddy Phil, Daddy Steve, Diapers, Domestic Avengers, Gen, Hulk Feels, Hulk Needs a Hug, Infantilism, Mostly Fluff, Pacifiers, Protective Clint Barton, Protective Hulk, Protective Tony Stark, Team as Family, Uncle Phil, alternate universe - littles are known, bottles, everything is happy and no one hurts, hulk is not a bad guy, little clint, non sexual age play, non sexual infantilism, pull-ups, uncle steve, very little angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-01
Updated: 2018-02-09
Packaged: 2019-02-09 08:14:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12883749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorChibi/pseuds/SailorChibi
Summary: 5 times Tony and Clint tried to prove that the Hulk was a good guy + 1 time it actually worked.(Or, Clint and Tony are worried that Bruce might leave because Bruce still sees the Hulk as a danger to everyone. They decide to prove Bruce wrong.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I did this thing a while ago where people sent me titles and I made up random fic ideas for it; someone liked this idea so much that they commissioned it.

Tony was sitting in the corner of the playpen all by himself when Uncle Thor opened the gate to let Clint in. Clint toddled inside and over to Tony, taking a seat on the blanket beside him. Uncle Thor smiled at the both of them and walked out of the living room, back into the kitchen. Clint listened for a moment, making sure that he heard the sound of Uncle Thor's voice mixing in with the conversation the other adults were having, before he looked at Tony.

"What's wrong?" he asked, because obviously something was wrong. Tony was hunched over, wrapped around his favorite stuffed toy: a green dragon with yellow spikes down its back. He hadn't even smiled when Clint and Uncle Thor came into the room, and that was weird because Tony was usually a pretty cheerful baby. 

Clint tried hard to remember whether there was something that big Tony had been upset about. Their lives were really stressful, so it wasn't uncommon for things to have a trickle-down effect when they were little. But as far as Clint knew, Tony had spent the morning at the movies with Aunt Tasha and Uncle Thor. Uncle Steve usually confiscated Tony’s phone when Tony was little, so Tony wouldn’t have gotten any bad news that way either.

"Hulk," Tony whispered.

"Hulk?" Clint repeated, confused. "Did Hulk make you mad? Do I need to punch him?" He swelled up, raising one fist in the air. Tony was his baby cousin and Clint would do whatever it took to protect him.

Tony shook his head and curled in tighter, sniffing like he was about to start wailing. Clint immediately scooted closer and wrapped an arm around Tony's shoulders. If Tony was crying, he was supposed to call an adult. But that meant Uncle Steve would come in and take Tony away, and Clint really wanted to know what was making Tony so upset. How was he supposed to fix it if he didn't know what was wrong? He thought about it and finally decided that if Tony really started to cry, he would call for someone. 

"Come on, Tony," he coaxed. "Tell me what's wrong."

"Dada 'n' Aunt Tasha were talking about the Hulk and sayin' how dangerous he is," Tony said quietly. "They didn't know Uncle Bruce was listening. He looked really sad and then he left. I don't want him to leave the Tower again." A tear ran down his cheek.

Clint stared at him in horror. "Why would Uncle Bruce leave?!"

"He was packing a bag last week. When he saw me, he pushed the bag under the bed and pretended it wasn't there." More tears slid down Tony's cheeks. "I like Uncle Bruce. The Hulk isn't bad! He smashes the bad guys, but he's good to everyone else. Why would Dada say that he was bad?" He started to cry. "Uncle Bruce's gonna leave 'cause he doesn't want to hurt anyone. I want him to stay!"

"I want him to stay too," Clint said, tearing up a little at the thought of Uncle Bruce leaving. Uncle Bruce was the best! He was the only one who would let Clint stay up for an extra half hour when he was baby-sitting, and - in spite of his protests - he was the only doctor that any of the Avengers were really comfortable with. Clint _hated_ doctors regardless of what headspace he was in. But one time he'd been jumping on the bed, fallen off, and broken his arm. Uncle Bruce had somehow coaxed Clint into letting him put his arm in a cast. Plus, he let Clint and Tony helped him with the coolest science experiments. No one else let them make things explode!

Tony was still crying quietly, so Clint hugged him tightly, his mind racing. There had to be a way to make Uncle Bruce stay. Clint knew that Uncle Bruce was always worried about the Hulk hurting someone. That was why he’d made Tony build the Hulk containment room. But now it seemed like Uncle Steve and everyone else had grown to share those fears. 

But Clint and Tony knew differently. The Hulk used to be uncontrollable. But now when Uncle Bruce hulked out, the Hulk just sat in his containment room and watched cartoons until he went back to being Uncle Bruce. He hardly ever smashed things he wasn't supposed to smash. And he hadn't hurt anyone for a long time! Just last week, he'd saved a bus full of people from falling into the river. Why didn’t people pay attention to the good side of Hulk? They acted like he was all bad, but Clint knew that couldn’t be true. Daddy had told him once that only _really_ bad people were all bad, and the Hulk wasn’t like that.

And then Clint had a stroke of genius. He grinned really widely. "I know what we gotta do. We gotta show everyone that Hulk is good."

"We do?" Tony said, looking confused.

"Yeah! Uncle Bruce doesn't get to see Hulk in action. All he has to go on is what everyone tells him, and right now they're telling him bad things. We gotta change everyone else's opinions so they'll tell Uncle Bruce good stuff, and that way he'll stay!"

Tony's eyes widened. "But... how can we do that?"

"Umm..." Clint frowned, thinking hard. "We need to talk to Hulk," he said finally. "Hulk won't hurt you and me. He loves us. If we can show Daddy and Uncle Steve that Hulk likes us, then I bet they'll change their minds." He nodded triumphantly. Tony and Clint were the most important things in the world to Daddy and Uncle Steve. If they saw that Hulk was treating Tony and Clint good, then they would have to change their minds. Especially Tony. Daddy had told him lots of times that Tony was really fragile, so if Hulk could be careful with Tony than he could be careful with anyone!

"To talk to Hulk, we gotta make Uncle Bruce angry," Tony pointed out.

Clint nodded. "Let's go to the lab. We can knock over a ‘speriment and that’ll make Uncle Bruce real angry.” He stood up and leaned against the side of the playpen. The latch was just flimsy enough that Clint could catch it with the tip of his finger and unsnap it. The door swung open.

“You did it!” Tony cheered.

“Shh,” Clint whispered, putting a finger over his lips. “We gotta be real quiet, okay? If anyone catches us, we’ll get in trouble. Here, take my hand.” He took Tony’s hand, both to keep Tony with him and because, in his headspace, Tony wasn’t that steady on his feet. If Tony fell, he’d start crying and that would bring Uncle Steve running.

“JARVIS,” Tony said. “Don’t tell Dada what we’re doing.”

“Yes, young sir,” JARVIS said quietly, and Clint didn’t think it was his imagination that the A.I. sounded amused. If JARVIS thought they were in danger, he definitely would’ve called Uncle Steve. That meant JARVIS didn’t think the Hulk was dangerous either. Clint puffed up, proud to have someone else on their side.

The grown-ups were still chatting away in the kitchen, so Clint led Tony through the other exit to the hallway. They crept down the hall to the elevator, because neither of them were allowed to use the stairs when they were in their little headspace. Clint hit the button for Uncle Bruce’s workshop and grinned at Tony, who was wiggling with excitement.

Uncle Bruce didn’t even notice when the elevator doors opened up. He was standing in front of several shifting holograms, nearly as adept with them as Tony was. Clint tugged Tony to a stop, wondering how they could make Uncle Bruce angry. Could they ask JARVIS to erase the holograms? He didn’t want to do something that would be irreparable, but JARVIS could save whatever was being worked on and just pretend to erase it.

“Clint Barton! Tony Stark!”

Clint jumped and Tony flinched. “Uncle Steve!” Clint exclaimed. Darn it. 

Uncle Steve crossed his arms. “What are you two doing down here? You know you’re not allowed off the communal floor without one of us with you.”

“Tony said he hasn’t spent much time with Uncle Bruce lately,” Clint said, thinking fast. “I’m a big boy. I can take the baby to see Uncle Bruce.”

This was an old argument, so Uncle Steve just sighed. “Clint, you are a big boy, but you’re not big enough to wander the Tower by yourself. Especially with Tony. You guys could’ve gotten hurt, or stuck somewhere that JARVIS can’t see, or the Avengers alarm could’ve gone off.” He didn’t look as mad though, uncrossing his arms and closing the distance between them to pick up Tony. Tony, thank god, snuggled into Uncle Steve with that soft coo that always made Uncle Steve melt like butter.

“Come on, kiddo,” Uncle Steve said, holding a hand out to Clint. “Your daddy is looking for you. It’s snack time. We can ask Uncle Bruce to come up and play with you later. He’s busy right now.”

Clint frowned, but couldn’t see a way around leaving with Steve – at least, no way that wouldn’t end in punishment. Reluctantly, he took Steve’s hand. But he glanced over his shoulder as Steve led them back to the elevator. Uncle Bruce was still hard at work, but Clint didn’t think it was his imagination that Uncle Bruce looked kinda lonely working all by himself. That only hardened his resolve. One way or another, he and Tony _would_ prove that the Hulk was good.


	2. Chapter 2

Steve, had he known about the plan, probably would’ve hoped that common sense would prevail when Tony woke up in his big headspace. Sometimes what made perfect sense to a sixteen-month-old or a three-and-a-half-year-old actually didn’t make sense from the perspective of someone older. In this case, however, Steve’s hopes would’ve died a swift death.

Tony woke up and immediately thought that his and Clint’s plan was _perfect_.

It wasn’t the first time that Tony had noticed Bruce separating himself from the group, though he didn’t think it had ever gotten as bad a Bruce packing a to-go bag before. Bruce didn’t participate in anything that could be even remotely violent. He didn’t even play video games, because those could get his adrenaline going and prove to be too much of a risk (Bruce’s words, not Tony’s). He was even averse to watching horror movies.

He lived his life in fear of the Hulk emerging, even now. And while Tony couldn’t really blame him for that, he did want to prove to Bruce that the Hulk, whether it was because Bruce no longer had to hide out and live in fear of Ross or because he and Bruce were getting used to each other, wasn’t nearly as out of control as he’d been before. Otherwise, Clint would’ve gone splat on the pavement a long time ago.

The problem was first impressions, Tony thought sourly. It had taken him and Steve quite a while to work through their first impressions of each other. Now Steve was the most important person in the world to him. But the Hulk didn’t get that chance. Bruce always took back control right after a battle, and, on the rare occasion he didn’t, the Hulk usually ran away. Bruce never got the chance to see that the Hulk had changed, and apparently Steve, Natasha, Thor and Coulson had yet to come to the conclusion that Tony and Clint had.

Well, that was going to change, and this time he wouldn’t let Steve stop him.

First things first. Tony sat up and reached through the bars, flipping the latch on his crib. He didn’t feel little today, so there was no point in hanging around until Steve came to get him. The side of the crib slipped down, allowing him to slide out. He waddled towards the bathroom and removed the puffier, babyish diapers that Steve preferred to use. They were thicker and printed with pictures of cute animals. When Tony was big and didn’t feel like he could focus on his bladder, he preferred thinner, black pull-ups.

He showered and got dressed, walking out of the nursery to meet Steve in the hall. Steve smiled when he saw Tony, reaching out to pull Tony into a hug. “Feeling big today?” he asked.

“Yeah. It’s been a few days, I’m sure there’s stuff for me to do,” Tony said, sinking happily into the hug. It had taken a while for him to feel comfortable with affection when he was big, but now he would take whatever Steve wanted to give. Within reason, of course. Certain gestures, like being picked up, tended to send him into his little headspace.

“There’s always stuff for us to do,” Steve said with a sigh, letting go. He kept one arm wound around Tony’s shoulders as they walked down the hall. “Want me to make you breakfast?”

“I’m not going to say no,” Tony replied. “Especially if you’re making omelets.”

“I think I could be persuaded to do that.”

Tony grinned. Steve spoiled him rotten whether he was big or little, and Tony loved it. It was the kind of affection he’d always wanted from Howard, but which he now realized was much better coming from Steve. After all, Steve made the best omelets anyone in the Tower had ever had. Even Pepper, who was as well-traveled as Tony, agreed with that.

He sat at the table and looked through emails on his phone while Steve made breakfast. One by one, the rest of the Avengers trickled in. Clint was still feeling little today, as he came in with Coulson wearing his little clothes. That was okay. Tony could execute the plan on his own. It might even be easier that way. The absence of one of them was less likely to be noticed.

He just didn’t realize his chance to talk to the Hulk would come quite so soon. No sooner had the last bite of omelet passed Tony’s lips did the Avengers alarm go off. Clint jumped, startled by the loud sound, and began to cry. Coulson pulled Clint into his arms and waved off the rest of the team. Tony jumped up and ran out of the room, heading for the workshop. He could feel the adrenaline of battle already pumping through him.

The battle was, when all was said and done, a pretty easy one to get through, though Tony wouldn’t have been brave enough to share that opinion with any of his teammates who weren’t safely enclosed in armor. It was Loki, their biggest pain in the ass, who was causing trouble, and every time any of the Avengers took care of one of the weird green blobs Loki had conjured, the blobs exploded and covered whoever was nearby in a gross, slimy green liquid.

“This is disgusting,” Natasha hissed over the comm unit. Tony recognized the tone that meant she was fast reaching stabby levels of fed up.

“My brother does have a poor sense of humor,” Thor said sadly. He was sitting in the street, looking like a puppy that needed a bath. Green slime was literally dripping from his hair.

“A poor sense of humor? Look at my suit!” Natasha practically screeched.

“I’ll make you a new one,” Tony said hastily. He’d probably have to make a new suit for Steve, too. It was probably safest for what they were wearing to be burned: it was a huge loss in money, but there was no telling what this stuff would do to gear over time.

Natasha subsided into muttering in Russian for a few seconds before she demanded, “Where is Loki?!”

“He’s gone,” Steve announced, jogging over to Thor. “He took off when I cornered him. SHIELD’s moving in with decontamination showers. Tony, don’t even think about trying to sit this out.”

“But I’m wearing the armor,” Tony whined. Decontamination showers were the worst. He still didn’t like getting his head wet, and the showers were nothing like baths with Steve in the safety of the tower. 

“We’re not taking chances. That’s non-negotiable,” Steve said firmly.

Tony pouted. “Fine. I’ll be back. I’m gonna find the Hulk.”

“Last I saw, he was headed that way,” Natasha said, jerking her thumb over her shoulder.

It didn’t take Tony long to find the Hulk. All he had to do was follow a path of slowly dissolving green blobs. Hulk was sitting on the ground, much like Thor, looking around like he expected more green blobs to jump out at any moment. Like the rest of them, he was covered in the green slime. His eyes lit up when Tony landed in front of him and he lurched to his feet, flexing his giant fists.

“Hulk smash puny god?” he asked eagerly.

“Not today, Green Bean. Puny god took off,” Tony replied, letting the faceplate snap up. He wrinkled his nose as he caught a whiff of how the green slime smelled. Eww. No wonder Natasha was pissed.

Hulk looked very disappointed. “No smash?”

“You’re all done smashing, but I wanted to talk to you.” This was a good first step. Tony would talk to the Hulk alone, outside of the armor, and then show everyone the footage later on. The team would be able to see from the armor’s camera that their conversation went just fine. He started to release the armor.

“Tin man stop! Slime bad!” Hulk shouted.

“What? But if I’m in the armor, they won’t – hey! Wait!” Tony yelped, but it was too late. He watched in frustration as the Hulk began to shrink back into Bruce. 

“What’s going on?” Bruce said, sounding dazed, clutching at his torn pants. “Tony? What is this stuff?”

“A present from Loki,” Tony said, trying not to let his frustration seep into his voice. On the one hand, this was good. It was further proof that the Hulk wasn’t the monster everyone made him out to be. He’d been concerned enough about Tony stepping out of the armor and exposing himself more to the green slime that he’d turned back into Bruce. On the other hand, there went a great opportunity. Damn Loki.

“Of course it was,” Bruce sighed. “Can I get a lift? This stuff is already all over me.”

Tony nodded and stepped closer, winding an arm around Bruce’s waist. He lifted off gently and flew the short distance back to the rest of the team. Unfortunately he forgot about putting his faceplate back down, so had to listen to Steve’s lecture about exposing yourself to toxic substances. And then the shower ended up forcing him back into his Little headspace; he spent the bulk of the miserable experience clinging to Steve and sobbing while the rest of the team tried to comfort him.

But Tony wasn’t giving up that easy. No way. He and Clint _were_ gonna succeed.


	3. Chapter 3

To the outside world, the Avengers were a team who took life seriously. If the press could get wind of them now, Tony thought drily, that reputation would be forever destroyed. He surveyed the group of giggling men and women before him, all of them collapsed in a heap on the floor. He had no idea what they’d been doing – he’d been buried down in the workshop, trying to figure out an upgrade for Stark Industries – but everyone looked happy.

“Tony!” Darcy exclaimed, the first one to catch up to him. “Come play with us!”

“What are you playing?” Tony asked.

“Hide and seek. It’s Bruce’s turn to be the seeker.” She grinned and nudged Bruce in the shoulder with her foot. Bruce rolled his eyes, but he was trying to hide a smile. Tony knew for a fact that Bruce thoroughly enjoyed being able to participate in ‘team building’ activities.

“I still have a lot to do,” Tony said, but he didn’t move. Now that he could see sunlight spilling in through the living room windows, he realized he’d been down in the workshop a lot longer than he thought. Hours just flew by when he was focused on work, particularly when he was making good progress. He really should just get that cup of coffee and go back downstairs…

But part of him didn’t want to. He wanted to get down on his hands and knees and crawl into that spot between Thor and Bruce and snuggle right in. He wanted to play hide and seek. Tony was good at the game; having personally designed and overseen the building of most of the rooms, he knew the tower like the back of his hand. He didn’t win all the time – you couldn’t find Natasha or Clint if they didn’t want to be found – but he did win a fair amount.

Steve sealed the deal, coming up behind Tony and wrapping his big arms around Tony. “Do you wanna play with us, baby boy?” he murmured.

Tony realized that he did. He melted back into Steve’s arms, trusting that Steve would support his weight. Only once he was fully relaxed did he recognize how tense he’d been. His neck, shoulders and back all ached from being hunched over the workbench. He also had to pee. He tipped his head up and nuzzled Steve’s jaw line, smiling when Steve pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“Bathroom,” Tony mumbled in lieu of an answer, which was an answer in itself.

“Don’t start the next round without us,” Steve said to the rest of the group, picking Tony up. 

“We won’t,” Jane said, squealing when Thor poked her.

Steve carried Tony out of the room and into the elevator. Tony just rested his head on Steve’s shoulder and slid his thumb into his mouth, letting the thoughts of Stark Industries and the newest toy on the market drift away. Steve was warm – he always ran hot, a product of the supersoldier serum – and comfortable, and, although Tony wasn’t sleepy, it was nice to just close his eyes and trust that Steve knew where they were going.

He did stir enough to fuss when Steve walked out of the elevator and past the bathroom. Though Tony wore modified diapers when he was big, he didn’t like using them. Most of the time he tried to get to the bathroom: the diapers were an evil necessity for those times when he was too focused or too busy to pay that close attention to his bladder or bowels. He’d _told_ Steve he had to go!

“Shh, honey,” Steve said, patting his back. “I’m going to change you anyway, so you might as well just use your diaper. It’s okay. Go ahead.” He bounced Tony a little, humming as they entered the nursery.

Tony pouted, whining a little, but his body decided the battle for him when his bladder released. Before he could start to cry, Steve laid him down on the changing table and whisked his clothing and the soiled diaper off. He had Tony in a new diaper in no time, then helped him into jeans with an elastic waistband, red socks and a red t-shirt. He clipped a blue pacifier to Tony’s shirt and smiled.

“Now, what do you say we go beat Natasha’s socks off at hide and seek?” he said, and Tony grinned.

By the time they got back down to the living room, Natasha, Clint and Coulson had joined the group. Clint was in his little headspace too, Tony noticed. Maybe that’s where the three of them had been. Like Tony, Clint sometimes had a hard time going down into his headspace. It wasn’t always that easy to just let go. Coulson and Natasha were by far the best at getting Clint to relax.

“Alright,” Bruce said. “JARVIS is going to count to one hundred. We’re restricted to this floor only. Everyone better be hidden by then, got it?” He raised his eyebrows, trying to look menacing. Tony giggled. Bruce cracked a grin and winked at him.

“One, two, three, four…” JARVIS began to count. He was always the official counter for stuff like this because some people (Steve and Clint) cheated by counting too fast.

The group scattered. Steve carried Tony out of the room, but Tony wanted to hide by himself. He tugged at Steve’s sleeve. “I hide myself, Daddy.”

“Are you sure, baby?” Steve asked. “Hiding alone can be scary.”

“By myself,” Tony said firmly. He had a great hiding space he didn’t want Steve to see, just in case Tony wanted to use it against him later.

“Okay. What room?”

“Gym.”

Both of Steve’s eyebrows rose. “This isn’t just an excuse to play on the equipment, is it? Because you know you’re not allowed to touch anything.”

Tony shook his head and squirmed. JARVIS was halfway through and Bruce would be coming before they knew it. Reluctantly, Steve let him down and watched as Tony toddled into the gym. This was the smaller gym, more like a weight room, for anyone who didn’t want to trek ten floors down to the gym floor. True to his word, Tony shuffled past the equipment and heading towards the far wall.

“Tony? What’cha doin’?”

Tony jumped, but only a little. Everyone knew that Clint used the vents for transportation. Not long after Clint had moved into the tower, Tony had completely renovated all the vents in the tower. They were now reinforced with steel strong enough to support the weight of a grown man, and wide enough to accommodate someone with Clint’s broader shoulders. 

“I hide,” Tony said, looking up at the ceiling. “Clint hide?”

The grate smoothly fell open and Clint popped his head down, crinkling his nose. “Where?”

JARVIS was up to eighty. Tony didn’t really want to show off his hiding spot but they didn’t have time to argue. He beckoned frantically to Clint and then hurried over to the wall. There was a linen closet in the gym which was always well stocked with towels, bottles of water, and several changes of clothing that would fit just about anyone. But what the team didn’t know was that there was a second closet, which Tony had never used because there wasn’t a need for it.

Clint’s mouth fell open when Tony reached out and tapped a spot on the wall that caused a door to swing open. “How did you -!”

“You never looked,” Tony said with a shrug. The door had always been here. No one had ever bothered to examine the wall closely enough to see the fine lines.

JARVIS reached a hundred. He seized Clint’s wrist and dragged him inside, slamming the door shut behind them. They could see what was going on thanks to JARVIS, who created a hologram on the far wall. They huddled together, biting their lips to keep from giggling, and watched as Bruce began in the living room and located Darcy before moving on to the kitchen.

The gym was Bruce’s fourth stop. He’d also found Thor in the bathroom, but no one beyond them. Clint put a finger over his lips as Bruce walked into the gym. At first glance there weren’t many places to hide. The room was wide open with nothing to hide behind or in – except for the linen closet. Bruce began walking over to it. Just as reached for the knob, Clint squeaked.

“Oh crap,” he said, looking panicked. “I forgot. I put something in there to scare Natasha but she didn’t work out today because she hurt her ankle yesterday –”

The Hulk’s roar cut him off. Tony swallowed hard and shoved the door open, watching as the Hulk turned to face them. He was covered in red paint, which at least explained why Bruce had Hulked out. This was a perfect time to put their plan into action – but Tony hadn’t thought they would be facing an _angry_ Hulk. He still didn’t think Hulk would hurt them, but he was very intimidating.

“Hi Hulk,” Tony began softly.

Hulk roared. Tony flinched at the loud sound, which made his ears ache. Steve, Coulson, Natasha and Thor all sprinted into the room at the same time. Steve grabbed Tony and Clint, wrapping an arm around each of their waists, and physically carried them out of the room without giving either of them the chance to protest or explain. He dumped them in the living room and then ran back down the hall. Clint tried to follow, but Coulson stopped him.

“No Clint. Come on. The three of us are going upstairs while Uncle Steve, Uncle Thor and Aunt Natasha deal with Hulk,” Coulson said firmly. He took both their hands and pulled them into the elevator. Tony tried not to cry with frustration as the doors swung. Another opportunity missed.


	4. Chapter 4

“We need a distraction,” Tony said flatly. Clint looked over at him. They were watching television together and no one else was around. “It can’t happen when we’re little because everyone hovers too much. It has to be when we’re big, but Steve and Agent still watch us too much. One of us has to be the sacrifice.”

Clint considered this before nodding. “That makes sense. Personally, I vote for you.” He was expecting a fight on that front. Tony might’ve had the headspace of a baby, but it was still something that he didn’t like talking about. But the truth was, the whole team coddled Tony _way_ more than they did Clint. Tony crying, particularly right after a battle, would be more than enough to draw everyone’s attention.

Tony’s lip curled. “I figured you’d say that. Fine, but you have to make sure Hulk is far enough away that he doesn’t hear me. Or else, he’ll turn back into Bruce.”

“I can do that,” Clint said, thinking it over. It wouldn’t be that hard. Tony and Thor were the aerial support, but Clint typically acted as the eyes and ears of the group. He was almost always stationed in one specific place where he could see the majority of the battle and give Steve updates that enabled Steve to make the best calls. He could just direct Steve and Natasha away from the Hulk.

They talked at length about what would happen when the Avengers were called out again until both of them felt prepared and confident that their simple plan would actually work. And when the Avengers alarm finally went off a week later, Clint felt a bigger than usual rush of excitement and adrenaline. He bolted out of bed and hurried to get dressed, fighting back a grin of pure glee.

This time, they were ready. 

The battle was nothing special; some kids had gotten their hands on a magical spell book and were a little too enthusiastic with testing spells. For much of the battle, Clint was preoccupied with shooting arrows at shadowy figures that were maddeningly agile. They had the general shape of humans, but moved with inhuman speed and strength. Fortunately, he discovered pretty quickly that an arrow to the heart or head could still make them die.

He didn’t actually get the chance to guide Natasha and Steve away from the battle, but then all of a sudden he didn’t have to. Natasha came running when one of the shadowy figures appeared right behind him and stabbed Clint’s arm. He yelped in pain as the blade slid free, staggering back a step. Only years of experience kept him from dropping his bow. Natasha roundhouse kicked the shadow and then looked at him.

“I’m fine, I’m fine, go!” Clint yelled, waving her off. The shadows were fleeing. “They’re leaving for a reason!”

She took off after them, calling to Steve for help; the two of them chased the shadows down Fifth Avenue. Clint gritted his teeth as he examined his arm. It was a clean slice through the muscles on his bicep, deep enough that he’d probably need stitches. It throbbed with pain when he lifted his bow and set an arrow, but he was good at ignoring pain. He had lots of practice.

“This isn’t working!” Tony called as Hulk roared by, smashing shadowy figures left and right. 

“Tony! Can you get a hold of Stephen Strange?” Steve demanded.

“I’m trying. That man needs to learn to answer his phone,” Tony said. He made a squeaky sound and Clint turned automatically to look. A bunch of shadowy figures had leapt up and were hanging from the armor. Thor knocked them all away with an angry roar and Mjolnir. 

It took several minutes for Strange to arrive on scene, but he easily subdued both the spell book and the kids when he got there. The shadowy figures weren’t so easily contained, but Strange was able to search out the correct spell in the book and figure out how to reverse it. Clint breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the figures melt away like they’d never existed, though he knew it would probably be a while before he stopped twitching at the sight of his own shadow.

“Showtime,” Clint said into his earpiece, the word meant only for Tony. He watched Iron Man’s helmet shift in a nod, the move perceptible only to someone who was watching.

Tony couldn’t just start crying on the spot, of course. That would be way too weird and noticeable for a man who usually fought tooth and nail to remain big when the team was called out. But over the comms, Clint heard the quiet sound of a whimper and a hastily muffled sob. Had he not been focusing, he would’ve missed it. But apparently it was clearly audible to supersolider ears.

“Tony?” Steve said, head snapping up from where he’d been standing over the kids with folded arms and his best ‘Captain America is disappointed in you’ look. One of the kids was already in tears. The other two were glaring.

“It’s nothing,” Tony said, but there was just a hint of a wobble to his voice and it was enough to kick Steve’s instincts into high gear. He moved towards Tony like a panther stalking his pray. Tony didn’t move away, just stood there and let Steve approach.

“If it’s nothing, lift your faceplate,” Steve said.

It would be unlike Tony to back down from a challenge like that. The faceplate snapped up revealing Tony’s face. He was biting his lip and blinking rapidly, but he met Steve’s gaze with what was probably supposed to be an annoyed glower – but it came across as more of a sulky pout to the experienced eye. Steve just stood there and looked at him, and Tony’s defiance quickly melted away like the shadows. His eyes began to fill with tears.

“JARVIS, override alpha-omega-charlie-six-eight-one-bravo Captain America is the best daddy,” Steve said. The armor obediently came apart at the seams. Tony stumbled as he stepped down. The second his feet hit the pavement, he released a full-throated wail that tugged at even Clint’s heart.

“Very nice,” Clint said softly, impressed. Thor, Natasha, Steve and Coulson were all converging on Tony. Clint hit the stairwell, making it down to the bottom in less than five minutes. He started jogging in the direction the Hulk had been last.

Hulk was where Clint was expecting, grunting and stomping his feet forlornly. “Shadows gone,” he grumbled as Clint came up to him.

“Yeah, I know they are, Big Guy,” Clint said. “You did a really good job smashing them, though.” He activated the video recorder that Tony had installed in his helmet. They would need video proof, after all.

He took a few steps closer to Hulk, inserting himself well within reach of the huge fists. At one point being so close would’ve been terrifying, but not anymore. Clint’s fear of the Hulk had disappeared a long time ago, after it occurred to him that it had been months, if not years, since Hulk last lifted a hand to anyone on the team. Or to anyone who wasn’t a bad guy, really. 

Hulk eyed him warily. “What Bird Man want?” he rumbled.

“I need your help,” Clint said. If he could explain a simple task to the Hulk and have it followed, and if nothing got smashed during that task, he thought that would be a great step forward. It would be proof that, while still enraged, the Hulk wasn’t nearly as uncontrollable as when Bruce first joined the Avengers.

He swept his eyes over their surroundings and immediately zeroed in on a four car pile-up. It looked like the drivers had fled. That was perfect. Hulk could pry the cars apart and leave them in separate pieces. That would make it easier for the cars to be towed, and would save firefighters the effort of having to pry them apart. He pointed to the cars.

“Could you –”

“Bird Man hurt!” Hulk exclaimed.

Startled, Clint looked down at his arm. Now that the battle was over and adrenaline was fading, and Hulk had drawn his attention to it, he realized that it really did hurt. It also looked much worse than it really was; though he’d wrapped a makeshift bandage around the wound, he had blood all over his arm, hand, and on the side of his uniform. Tony was gonna be pissed.

“It’s nothing,” Clint said. He heard his voice quiver a bit and inwardly cursed. All this time in his little headspace had turned him soft. It used to be that he could ignore wounds way worse than this and never once slip into his headspace. Now, he could feel his big side tricking through his hands like water.

“Bird Man need Bruce. Hulk go.”

“No, wait!” Clint cried, but it was too late. The surge of frustration he felt as Hulk shrank back into Bruce was enough to make the tears start.

“Clint? Oh my god!” Bruce exclaimed, grabbing for him. “Hey, hey, baby, it’s okay,” he soothed, wrapping Clint up in a big hug. He gently took hold of Clint’s arm so that he could examine the wound.

“Not a baby,” Clint said through a flurry of sobs. He’d failed in his task and now his arm _really_ hurt. He sank to the ground, crying loudly, as Bruce tried to shush him. He was grateful when his daddy arrived and pulled him into a big hug.


	5. Chapter 5

“Clint? Are you awake?”

“No,” Clint said from underneath his pile of covers. He was warm and cozy and his arm didn’t hurt. He never wanted to move again.

“Clint,” Coulson said, sounding amused. “We’ve been over this. If you can talk, you’re awake.” Hands curled over the edges of Clint’s covers, slowly but surely prying them away. His face appeared over the edge, fond smile making Clint’s toes curl. He wasn’t little right now, but proof of Coulson’s affection never ceased to feel good.

“I don’t wanna talk. I’m sleepy,” Clint whined, just because he could. Sometimes it still felt like a novelty that he could whine or cry even when he was a big, and no one on the team would look down on him or automatically assume he had slipped into his little headspace because of it. 

“You can go back to sleep. I just wanted to let you know that I have to go into SHIELD. Natasha and Steve are coming with me. Thor is away with Jane. If you start to feel little, I want you to promise me that you’ll call Bruce. I don’t want you trying to handle it yourself. You know what happened last time.” Coulson’s smile slid away as he talked and Clint winced.

Yeah, last time had not gone well. It used to be that Clint could handle being on his own in his little headspace with no problems. It might’ve been lonely, but that was the biggest problem. Unfortunately, it seemed he’d gotten spoiled by Coulson’s constant attention. Clint had slid into his headspace, stayed calm for all of ten minutes, and then promptly freaked out and burst into tears. He’d wet himself and convinced himself that he would be all alone forever before Steve had arrived at a run, alerted by JARVIS.

“I will,” Clint muttered, hiding his burning cheeks with the sheets. “Is Tony here too?”

“Yes, he’s downstairs in the workshop. Apparently he plans to stay there all day, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he wanders up at some point. You might even be able to talk him into some video games.”

Clint stretched, pleased at the thought. “Awesome.”

“Bruce will let me know if you feel little, and I’ll come home. Either way, please be good.”

“I am _always_ good,” Clint said, mock insulted by the insinuation that he was ever naughty. It had taken a long time for the lesson to sink in that just because he did naughty things, that didn’t mean he was bad. It was a lesson Tony still struggled with.

Coulson just smiled. “Yeah, you are.” He leaned down and kissed Clint’s forehead, ruffled his hair and got up. Clint watched him walk out of the room and listened to the sounds of Coulson preparing to leave: putting his coat and shoes on, gathering his paperwork together, finding his cell phone. He and Coulson shared a floor just like Tony and Steve did, so these were all familiar sounds that Clint was used to.

After the door opened and closed, Clint contemplated going back to sleep. But in spite of what he’d told Coulson, he wasn’t that tired. He decided to get up instead and pushed the covers away, springing out of bed. He slid on a thick housecoat and jammed his feet into the big monkey slippers Natasha had bought for him last Christmas. Today was a day to laze around.

He wandered down to the common floor after eating breakfast, hoping to find company. He was pleased to find Bruce sitting at the kitchen table working through some files. Bruce looked up and smiled absently, but it was clear he was busy. Clint gave up and headed into the living room, deciding that the television would be good enough company for now.

Bruce, however, came in about twenty minutes later and sat down beside him on the couch. “Clint?”

“Yeah?” Clint said, immediately snapping to attention. He recognized both the tone and the expression on Bruce’s face. Something was up.

“You and Tony have been trying to get close to the Hulk lately. That’s twice now I’ve come back to myself and found you and Tony right in front of me. What’s going on?” 

“Nothing,” Clint said, maintaining his composure, but coming up blank on a decent lie. And sure enough, Bruce did not look convinced. 

“So you’re telling me it was just a coincidence,” Bruce said slowly. 

“Yup. Absolutely.”

Bruce sighed and took his glasses off. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, which he only did when he was frustrated or tired. Looking at him, Clint felt a speck of guilt. They all knew how much Bruce worried about the Hulk hurting his teammates. This had to have been causing Bruce a lot of stress if he was bringing it up. For a moment, he entertained the thought of giving up on their plane.

But just as quickly, Clint cast that idea aside. No. They couldn’t give up! There was _no reason_ for Bruce to get this stressed out, that was the problem. The Hulk had willingly turned back into Bruce when he saw that Clint was injured. He’d been worried about Clint. That wasn’t the sign of a monster who existed only to smash things out of rage. Yes the Hulk had anger issues, but he wasn’t the monster Bruce thought that he was.

If Bruce would only believe him when Clint and Tony told him the truth, but Clint knew that he wouldn’t. No one would take their word for it. Everyone already kind of questioned Tony’s attitude towards the Hulk, since everyone knew Tony adored Bruce and hadn’t been afraid of the Hulk since day one. And it was unlikely they’d believe Clint either, since he was known for being a soft heart.

“I don’t care if it was a coincidence,” Bruce said finally, looking up. Without his glasses on, he looked tired. “I need you to promise me that you’ll stay away from the Hulk, Clint. You don’t understand how dangerous he is. He could kill you without ever realizing that you’re his teammate, and he could do it before you even knew what was happening. I couldn’t live with myself if that happened and I knew I was responsible for it.”

“Okay,” Clint mumbled. He didn’t like making a promise he was probably going to end up breaking, but it was hard to say no when Bruce was staring at him so intently. 

“Thank you,” Bruce said, clearly relieved. “I’m going to go have the same conversation with Tony.” He patted Clint’s knee and got up, leaving the room. Clint watched him go, wondering how that conversation would go. Chances were Bruce wouldn’t be able to coax the same promise out of Tony.

He settled back against the couch and looked at the television without really watching it, but as it turned out he didn’t have long to wait before his curiosity was assuaged. Tony walked in about half an hour later, looking pouty. He went into the kitchen and came back out a couple minutes with a cup of coffee in his hands. Clint raised an eyebrow at him as Tony sat down.

“Did he have the talk with you too?”

“Yeah,” Tony grumbled. “I made the mistake of trying to explain that the Hulk wasn’t that bad, and got treated to a fifteen minute lecture on how the Hulk doesn’t see me the way I see him and that I really needed to start being more responsible with my safety.”

Clint winced. “That doesn’t sound fun. Now I’m glad I didn’t bother to try.”

“It’s ridiculous! Why doesn’t anyone take us seriously?!”

“I’m not sure it’s us. I think it’s the subject matter,” Clint said. Because the team as a whole did a very good job of treating him and Tony like adults when they weren’t little.

“But we’re the experts,” Tony said. He was definitely sulking now, bottom lip jutting out in full force. “No one else has bothered to actually look at the Hulk to see if we’re telling the truth. They all just assume that Bruce is right and the Hulk hasn’t advanced at all. Bruce should know better! He’s a scientist. You need evidence to prove your point.”

“Not when they’re worried the evidence could end up with someone killed.”

Tony glared. “Whose side are you on?”

“The side that makes us a team, always,” Clint said, meaning it. “I don’t want to give up either. But we need to go about this the right way. We can’t be injured, or be somewhere dangerous. We can’t let Steve or Coulson interfere. And we have to keep the Hulk from turning into Bruce. This is starting to seem impossible.”

“There has to be some way to make it happen.” Tony chewed absently at his thumbnail. “What if I engineered an attack of some kind? Robots, maybe. One that separated that Hulk and me from the team. The robots attacking would keep the Hulk around, but if I slipped into my headspace he’d have to protect me.”

Clint thought about it. “That could work. There’d have to be a lot of robots, though.”

“JARVIS could engineer a thousand in a few days if they were simple enough. They don’t need to be complex. And if they were made from scrap material, they wouldn’t be very expensive. I could make sure that everyone else’s communicators have a coincidental breakdown, but yours works. You could lead everyone over when the time is right. Then they’d see for themselves.” Tony’s eyes were bright. 

It was a dangerous idea, but Clint couldn’t think of any other way to do it. He smiled. “Let’s go for it.”


	6. Chapter 6

Right up until the very last second, Tony had some doubts about whether or not this was a good idea. Not that he would share any of those doubts with Clint, of course: he was determined to see this through until the very end. It took at least two weeks of planning, but finally everything was ready. JARVIS, who had been strictly ordered not to inform Steve or anyone else of their plan, released the robots at exactly the right moment. As planned, the robots headed for their target: half to a field just outside of New York, and the other half to a nearby forest.

Tony smiled to himself as his cell phone beeped in the middle of the board meeting. Everyone recognized the Avengers alarm by now (it was pretty much the only way Pepper ever let him leave a meeting early) so it was pretty easy for him to get up and slip out without much fanfare. He'd brought the briefcase armor with him as he usually did, and he stepped into it. The armor rose around his body, and, as soon as the faceplate had snapped into place, Tony leapt out a window and activated the thrusters, 

"Iron Man here," he said into the comms. "What's the situation, Cap?"

"Sending you the coordinates now," Steve replied. "Thor is en route. The rest of us are right behind you in the quinjet. Wait for us."

"Yeah, yeah," Tony said, spying Thor up ahead. He sped up in order to get to Thor.

"Good morning!" Thor boomed. "It is most exciting to start the day off with a brawl!"

"That's not the word I'd use," Natasha muttered. Tony winced and made a mental note to stay out of her way. Considering that she was an international spy, Natasha _really_ hated being woken up early.

It was a stroke of good fortune that Steve decided to send Tony, Natasha and the Hulk to the forest, while Steve, Clint and Thor went to the field. Tony hung back, letting the Hulk and Natasha do most of the work. There were ample robots; JARVIS had been a very busy A.I. over the past couple of days, manufacturing robots non-stop. They were small, round little things about the size of a beach ball. All of them had pointed ears, like a cat, and two crinkly arms. JARVIS had deliberately made them agile, meaning that the Hulk had to chase them. 

"Excellent," Tony said under his breath as the Hulk took off into the forest, bellowing angrily. Natasha was preoccupied with beating some of the robots into the ground. Tony took off after the Hulk. It wasn't very hard to find him; all you had to do was follow the sound.

He emerged into a little glade and found the Hulk being bombarded by robots. It was show time. With a grin, Tony activated the best part of the robots: the EMP device he'd had installed on a select few of them. It wasn't very strong - not strong enough to take out the arc reactor - but it was enough to take out the Iron Man armor for about fifteen minutes. He immediately felt the suit shudder around him. Some of the robots let out a squealing sound that made Tony's ears hurt. And then, in the next instant, the armor stopped moving around him.

This was the part he hated. Much as he hated to compare his beloved armor to something so terrible, it was like being in a coffin. He could move and walk in the armor if he really tried, but couldn't do very much simply because it required a ton of effort. The armor weighed an obscene amount. Tony was strong, but he wasn't that strong. It wasn't at all heard for his little side to come rushing to the surface. He let out a frightened whimpered and struggled with moving the arms of the armor, trying to reach the manual release.

"Tin Man no!" Hulk yelled.

"I c-can't," Tony stuttered. The smart thing would've been to stay inside the armor in a real battle, but fortunately this wasn't a real battle. He hit the release. The armor loosened around him, the front of it dropping away, and Tony stumbled out, shaking.

"Bad!" Hulk shouted. Tony flinched.

The next thing he knew, a big green arm was scooping him up off the ground and he was being cradled against a huge chest. Hulk roared, so loud that Tony's ears popped, and then they were moving. The Hulk leapt straight up in the air - and Tony had never noticed before how high the Hulk could jump, but he was sure noticing it now - and landed hard on three of the robots. That was all Tony could hear for the next couple of minutes: the sound of robots being smashed against the ground and trees and the Hulk's furious growls and snarls. He didn't even try to look to see what was happening; he buried his face in his hands and wished that he and Clint had come up with a better plan.

"Tony!" Natasha's voice echoed off the trees. "Tony, where are you? Answer me!"

Even if he'd wanted her to know where they were, Tony couldn't have yelled back. He swallowed a sob as the Hulk landed with a jolt that shook Tony's body from head to toe. Hulk was breathing heavily, eyes darting around the clearing in search of more robots. They were surrounded by smoking piles of metal and sparking machinery, but no more robots approached them. Then Natasha appeared, racing towards them. She stopped about ten feet away, panic written across her face. Thor dropped out of the sky to land beside her.

"Hulk," Natasha said, looking a little pale. "That's not an enemy you're holding. Please put him down."

Hulk growled, showing off his teeth. "Tin Man no armor," he rumbled, arm still holding Tony protectively. "Hulk protect."

Natasha's mouth dropped open. She looked astonished. Thor smiled. "That is a job well done, friend Hulk!"

"Hulk protect," Hulk said, looking around suspiciously. "Tin Man no hurt."

"You kept the baby from being hurt. I applaud your efforts," Thor said, sounding completely serious. "But the baby is upset. Should we not return him to his father?"

Hulk looked down at Tony, then grunted. Tony squealed in alarm as the Hulk suddenly leapt again, though not straight up in the air: Hulk propelled them forward with enough force to make Tony's eyes water and his cheeks sting from the force of the wind. He heard Natasha and Thor yelling behind them. Hulk landed a good hundred feet away from where they'd just been and then leapt again, crossing the area quickly. Tony hid his face again, wondering if this had been a monumentally stupid idea. 

Who was he kidding? Of course it had been stupid.

"Tony!" a different voice yelled.

Tony's head snapped up. "Daddy!"

Steve was running towards them. "Tony!" he cried again. "Hulk, please put him down."

The look on Hulk's face could only be described as disdainful. "Hulk return Tin Man to Captain," he said, setting Tony on the ground. "Dumb God say to return."

"Thor told you to bring Tony back to me?" Steve said, clearly dumbfounded.

"Daddy," Tony sobbed again. Now that no one was holding him, he was a very unhappy baby. He threw his head back and let out a wail.

"Oh, Tony, sweetheart. It's okay." Steve was at his side immediately, kneeling down and wrapping Tony up in a big hug. "Shh. Did Hulk scare you?"

"No! Hulk saved me. The bad robots let out an EMP," Tony cried, throwing his arms around Steve's shoulders. "Hulk _protected_ me."

"Really?" Clint said with wide-eyed astonishment, jogging up behind Steve. "How amazing. Maybe the Hulk isn't as bad as everyone thinks!" Coulson was right behind him, though Tony had no idea when Coulson had arrived on scene.

Hulk eyed Clint, then shrugged. "Tin Man robots no big deal."

"What did you say?" Steve said, looking up at him. 

"Tin Man robots no match for Hulk," Hulk said, pounding his chest with one fist. "Hulk strongest there is!"

"Did you say Tin Man robots?" Steve said, sounding strangled, as Thor touched down with Natasha. 

"You know, come to think of it, those robots only attacked an empty field and a forest," Natasha said, her eyes narrowed. "And they were defeated pretty easily..."

"Plus no one showed up to take credit," Coulson said.

"I'm sure that's a coincidence," Clint said quickly.

Coulson put his hands on his hips. "What's going on, Clinton Barton?"

"Nothing!"

"So if SHIELD examines one of those robots, we won't find they're made out of S.I. materials?"

Clint held out for all for a minute under Coulson's stern glare. "Okay, fine! Tony and I just wanted to prove the Hulk is nicer than you think he is," he sulked. "You all treat Hulk and Bruce like he's a bomb waiting to go off. To the point where Tony saw Bruce packing a bag to leave! He was crying and I just..." He scuffed a toe against the ground. "I like Uncle Bruce. I don't want him to leave just because you're wrong about Hulk. Hulk is nice!"

"Hulk nice," Hulk agreed.

"I can't believe this," Steve sighed. "Tony, is this true?" He tried to pry Tony away from his chest, but Tony panicked and cried and clung to him. Steve sighed and gave up, pulling Tony back into a hug and stroking his hair. 

"Okay. We're all going back to the tower. And you and I, young man, will be having a very long talk," Coulson said, pointing at Clint. 

"So will Tony and I, once he's out of his headspace," Steve said, getting up. "Hulk... thank you. For protecting Tony."

"Hulk protect," Hulk said, looking satisfied. He closed his eyes and began to shrink. Seconds later, Bruce staggered a little and put a hand to his head.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Thor and I will explain," Natasha said, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "But first of all, did you know the Hulk is much better at fighting with us than he used to be?"

Bruce blinked. "He is?"

"Aye," said Thor. "He is a true companion. We would be most disappointed to lose both of you, Bruce."

They led Bruce away. Coulson turned back to Clint. "What were you thinking? This could've gone so wrong!"

Clint's eyes were tearing up. "U-Uncle Br-Bruce has t-to st-stay," he stuttered before breaking down into tears. Coulson sighed and pulled Clint into a hug, exchanging a rueful look with Steve.

True to their word, when Clint and Tony aged up again, they were treated to a very long and stern talk about 'stupid plans'. As part of their punishment, they had to held up Uncle Bruce unpack his bag and put everything back where it belonged. Neither of them minded all that much. It was hard to be mad at getting caught, even if it was thanks to the Hulk, when Uncle Bruce was smiling so big.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](http://tsuki-chibi.tumblr.com/).


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